On Sunday, October 16, 2011 at 6:00 PM, a candidate forum open to the public will be held at Holy Spirit Lutheran Church in Juanita. The church is located at 10021 NE 124th St., Kirkland, WA 98034.

All candidates for the Kirkland city council have been invited. Councilmember Dave Asher, councilmember Jessica Greenway, councilmember Bob Sternoff, Toby Nixon, and Jason Gardiner have accepted invitations to attend the forum.

The forum is expected to last approximately 90 minutes and will be moderated by Denise Smith, past president of the League of Women Voters of Washington.

Candidates will be asked to answer questions during three different stages. The first stage will include questions prepared by the Advocacy Team of Holy Spirit Lutheran Church, the group responsible for organizing the forum. The second stage will be a lightning round where candidates will be asked to answer ten “yes” or “no” questions. The third stage will be questions written on note cards by audience members that will be read by the moderator.

Questions will cover annexation, affordable housing, transportation, parking, the budget, and other challenges the city faces in upcoming years.

This is the fourth annual candidate forum held at Holy Spirit. In past years the church’s advocacy team has organized forums for the Kirkland city council as well as candidates for the 45th state legislative district.

The Advocacy Team of Holy Spirit Lutheran Church was created to educate, encourage, and enable church and community members to advocate their point of view to government leaders and elected officials.